Goodbye, Anita Roddick
I just found out that Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, has passed away sometime lastnight/this morning (time differences not noted in SMH article).
Anita Roddick has been probably my only real ‘hero’ since I was about 12 or 13. I definitely admire and look up to other people, but Anita Roddick has always been my pin-up girl; and a major influence on my purchasing habits, as well as concepts of success, business, marketing, entrepreneurship and money making.
her first autobiography, Body and Soul, introduced and solidified for me the idea that consciousness and conscience-ness and following your passion are important things, and that the gain-at-any-cost business model is not the only model that can be truly and outrageously successful.
yes, I was bought up in a pretty liberal, very feminist, gardens-and-orchards home, a ’save the world’ kind of teenager, wearing Dewberry, listening to Deep Forest, buying/making natural products and dabbling in vegetarianism (only sucessfully later in teens, but for several years), so these ideas were certainly not foreign. but I can very clearly remember this feeling of ‘the penny dropping’ when I read her book, of really truly seeing that the things I found so incomprehensible - genocide, environmental destruction, war, sexism, racism, animal testing (etc etc) were happening often because of conscience-less greed, money making, business and power. I was outraged, but so so inspired that someone - a woman! - was doing it differently, and doing it successfully.
I may eat meat now, and I may also no longer buy The Body Shop products (for several reasons - including it’s L’Oreal ownership), but the ethos of local, green, humane, natural, connective, spirited, personal and gutsy business that Anita Roddick embodied - organically and personally, not because it looked like a good marketing angle - are still my benchmarks.
so maybe I’m not running my own multi-million dollar ethical corporation, but I do try to buy the less packaged, the more personal, the ethical and the natural. I want to know about a company, what their beliefs are, if they are doing the best they can - for more than just their own back pocket.
I choose to support businesses I admire. I’m sure there is a huge number of my generation who do the same, and I’m sure it is, at least in part, because of the pioneering business model of The Body Shop (remember their old posters? the product AND political ones? I loved them so much!). I think there are certainly more entrepreneurs and businesses today inspired by Anita Roddick, and god I hope there continues to be.
Bless you Anita Roddick. thanks for the inspiration, thanks for making a difference.
September 11th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I just heard it at the news. I am shocked, even if I did not believe in the concept of the body shop anymore, since Anita Roddick sold the business last year to L’Oreal, it had changed (e.g.no wheat germ oil products!)
But you are right, she started a great idea and its good to honour her for that!
September 12th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Kiki, I agree, L’Oreal ownership is definitely one reason I don’t really buy there any more - because of the changes that brought about, that anyone can see going in to the shops: different products, less emphasis on the unique ingredients, the sourcing of the ingredients etc, and in a major way the complete abandonment of any political position or voice.
Also in Anita Roddick’s second autobiography Business As Unusual, she basically tells how she was kicked out of running the company, because the board (TBS went public) didn’t like her politicising and wanted TBS to focus only on shareholder profits, and stop trying to be ethical/use ethically sourced products. Basically, even before TBS was sold to L’Oreal, they were already abandoning the whole attraction of TBS for me, and becoming just another company that uses the words ‘natural’, ‘organic’ etc etc for marketing purposes.
I’d rather support Lush, Trilogy, etc - companies who are independent and have a personality - have a soul. Even Dove - at least they are running interesting campaigns with a social message (even if it’s “just marketing”, at least it’s saying something good! at least there is still a message!)
September 13th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
hear, hear.
Nice tribute, zoe
September 28th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Any way Zoe, As you know, we all must pass on at some time, leaving only our footprints and good deeds. Just keep up the old “Perception is not reality” ideals. Keeping it real is a great “life” choice no matter if great or small.